REDESIGNING ANIMAL & FIBRE GENETICS In Merinos, Angoras and Alpacas
Livestock Breeders prioritising: • Animal Welfare • Consumer Demands • Processing Performance
2016 Edition
2 • Redesigning Animal & Fibre Genetics
Foreword and Contents
Elite fibre demands higher commitment • By Patrick Francis
I
n the lead up to release of the 2016 edition of Redesigning Animal & Fibre Genetics two industry reports have produced thought provoking data for farmers involved in producing elite natural fibres with specifications suitable for luxury clothing. They suggest commitment to flock animal husbandry, shepherding and genetic selection needs to be considerably higher than is needed for flocks operating in the commodity end of the consumer textile market. Further evidence for livestock fiber farmers to take this approach comes from two international bi-monthly e-magazines, Ecotextile News and Ecouterre. They open up alternative opinions to what most Australian farmers usually read, about the direction textile designers, processors, and brand manufacturers are taking to maintain and win market share amongst global consumers. Product integrity, environmental accountability and transparency are the key measures constantly repeated in their articles.. As well, amongst livestock fibres, accountability for animal welfare is a prominent discussion point, particularly when it comes to using Australia Merino wool. All three species fibres produced under the SRS Group banner are elite natural fibres with specifications suitable for the next generation natural fibre clothing market. But the market requires increased accountability and transparency which if achieved allows farmers to participate further along the value chain and be financially rewarded accordingly. Some fibre farmers already participate in value chains provided by branded textile and clothing manufacturers. This opportunity is likely to open much wider to Merino sheep farmers with the development by the Textile Exchange of the Responsible Wool Standard. This is a voluntary third party audited, on-farm quality assurance certification program which puts minimum standards on animal husbandry, shepherding, and farm environmental management.
With its roots based in the world textile and retail sectors, the Responsible Wool Standard has the potential to reconfigure the elite Merino wool value chain. Such an initiative is timely given the declining role of Merino wool in the world textile market, and the declining number of professional Merino wool farmers. According to the AWI Strategic Plan 2016/17 – 2018/19, in 2011 there were just 9814 Merino based farming operations in Australia. In 2016 there will be less.. Furthermore in Agricultural commodities June quarter 2016, ABARES reports that, “… the relative prices of wool and competing fibres significantly influence the demand for wool in textile manufacturing. Over the 10 months to April 2016, the ratio of the 21 micron wool price to the price of polyester staple fibre increased by 26 per cent to 9.9:1—indicating that the price competitiveness of wool had declined. Over the same period, the ratio of the 21 micron wool price to the Cotlook ‘A’ price increased by 10 per cent to 6.8:1— indicating that the price competitiveness of wool against cotton had also declined. “These price trends suggest that the substitution of cheaper alternative fibres for wool in global textile and clothing manufacturing will increase in the short term, particularly in the budget segment of the market. However, substitution away from wool is less likely in the luxury market segment, where fibre costs constitute a smaller proportion of total manufacturing costs.” How is demand in this “luxury” clothing market increased? The AWI’s Strategic Plan gives an insight: In men’s wear “Choose upper-middle brand partners that are seen by the trade as ‘iconic’ to influence the aspiring men’s middle market seeking to trade up via fibre upgrades and ingredient branding.” In women’s wear “Partnerships with ‘luxury’ brands which have a global presence and are influential within the fashion triangle.” The Strategic Plan also makes the point that: “At the upper end of the market there is a growing awareness of, and demand for, transparency in manufacturing and source
of fibre content. …It is absolutely the case that consumer demand shifts in this sector are designer, and now celebrity led. In order to rebuild the demand for wool, collaborations with the right designers and brands are key.” The challenge elite livestock fibre farmers have in front of them in such a small and competitive market is to equip themselves with the necessary on-farm quality assurances that satisfy the growing number of demands being put on designers and brands by consumers. This means they can continue as preferred suppliers in the luxury clothing value chain. The alternative is to be relegated to the “budget segment of the market” with its uncertain business future.
CONTENTS P3
Foreword
P5
Quality the future for wool
P9
The Skin Story: the elephant in the room
P18
Genetic selection for no mulesing and no tail docking
P22
SRS Merino studs directory
P29
Building flock environmental fitness
P36
The Poll Angora goat
P41
Genetic improvement in SRS Alpacas
P46
Take home messages
Redesigning Animal and Fibre Genetics is a SRS® Group publication Publication: August 2016 All material is copyright and cannot be reproduced without permission from Dr Jim Watts, www.srsmerino.com Publisher: Donna Clarke Publishing & Media Sales Editor: Patrick Francis, www.moffittsfarm.com.au Advertising and Design: Donna Clarke: 0419 693 635 | Patricia Samson: 0400 423 895 Design and Production: Troy Dodds, Irene Adams & Maddy Searle | Western Sydney Publishing Group
Redesigning Animal & Fibre Genetics • 3
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Wool quality: the future for wool • By Dr. Jim Watts
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In 1952, Professor John Speakman, a leading textile and fibre scientist from the University of Leeds, England, gave the keynote address at an international wool and textile conference held in Sydney. His presentation was called “The Future for Wool”. Speakman announced that the future for wool would depend on maximizing wool quality by achieving ever improving standards for uniformity of diameter and length of fibres which were both elastic and plastic. He was indicating that these were the ingredients required to take textile quality and textile value to higher levels and better markets. He referred to Dr. Harold Carter’s research to show that this might be achieved by breeding Merino sheep with high density of secondary wool follicles. The SRS breeding system for Merino sheep, Angora goats and alpacas is based on achieving these fibre outcomes by selecting for high density and length of fibres. So what evidence is there that SRS wool fits the description and textile performance described by Speakman ? Here is a small but powerful example.
More yarn of lighter weight In a mini-processing trial conducted by Dr. Paul Swan in 1996, quote: “Two fleeces of four visual sheep types were chosen from a superfine Merino flock. These types were: high fibre density and length (“SRS or soft rolling”); semi-SRS (“Frame”) ; the non-wrinkly, traditional sheep (“flat skin”) ; and the wrinkly, traditional sheep (“heavy tight”). The fleeces were processed to top, using the mini-processing line at CSIRO Division of Wool Technology. All fleeces were processed using the same machinery setting, irrespective of diameter. This enabled the results for the fleece types to be compared directly. Based on the topmaking performance results, and selected raw wool properties, spinning performance was predicted. This enabled an assessment to be made of the minimum weight (grams per kilometre, or
tex) and productivity of yarn (kilometres per sheep) to be estimated. The results clearly indicated that the SRS sheep are far superior to the traditional superfine types in terms of diameter, fleece value, yarn productivity and yarn value. The SRS wools are also of lower fibre curvature, which, in combination with their reduced diameter, yields wool of much softer handle. Quality Figure 1 illustrates this point. It shows the relationship between the minimum tex or weight (grams per kilome-
Why does SRS wool spin better? When wool top is drafted into yarn, the commercial imperative is to keep the surface of the yarn even or level. “Thin places” have to be avoided, as this leads to yarn breakages during spinning, and yarns of poor quality and low tenacity and strength. To avoid these problems, the drafting speeds are set conservatively to ensure that there are 45 fibres per cross section of yarn. This reflects that the fibres being spun are not uniform in diameter and length to the standard that will allow faster drafting speeds. If the wool fibres are long, and uniformly so, and the fibres are uniform in diameter, as is the case with SRS wools, faster drafting speeds are possible. Yarns with as few as 36 fibres per cross section can be spun whilst maintaining yarn levelness. The yarns will be lighter in weight and more yarn will be produced from SRS wool than wools lacking these high standards of length and diameter uniformity. Quality Figure 2 diagrammatically represents these differences in yarn construction.
Quality Figure 1: Predicted spinning performance of SRS type wool and other wool types. Source: P. Swan 1996. tre) of yarn that can be efficiently spun (zero breakages per 1000 spindle hours) and the kilometres of this yarn produced per sheep. The fleeces of the highest textile value (lowest tex) and most kilometres of yarn – in the lower right corner - are the SRS examples. The fleeces of the lowest textile worth (upper left corner) are the traditional “flat” and “heavy tight” fleeces. The implications are that selection of sheep toward a SRS fleece type would appear to have a major impact on wool quality, productivity, textile performance, and consequently, textile worth. The fleeces produced are of a type which assist the production of yarns consistent with consumer preferences (lighter weight, soft, sleek, luxurious), and hence demand.”
Quality Figure 2: Conventional versus ideal fibre arrangements.
Redesigning Animal & Fibre Genetics • 5
Quality Figure 4: Superfine Merino wools, each testing 16.0 microns for mean diameter, from a SRS sheep (top) and a traditionally bred sheep (bottom).
Quality Figure 3: SRS Merino wool.
SRS Merino sheep SRS Merino sheep are plain bodied with loose and thin skins. The fleece grows as closely packed and long, thin staples. The wool is exquisitely soft and lustrous and forms uniform crimp waves of high amplitude and low frequen-
cy, Quality Figure 3. The wool follicles in the skin are arranged as clearly separated “fields” or rows of follicle groups. The follicle groups are small but contain large numbers of wool follicles which are straight and evenly seated in the skin. The follicles are neither deeply seated
6 • Redesigning Animal & Fibre Genetics
nor shallow seated in the skin. The primary fibres are much finer in diameter than the fine secondary fibres. The fibres grow very quickly, constantly curving and emerging into the fleece as unfolded helices. Typically an SRS Merino sheep would have more than 90 wool fol-
Wool Quality licles per square millimetre of skin and grow fibres at the rate of at least 0.60 millimetre (in length) per day. The fibres are uniform in diameter along and between the fibres, highly aligned, smooth surfaced, cylindrically shaped and elastic. The wool forms uniform crimp waves of high amplitude and low frequency, Quality Figure 4, and Quality Figure 5.
Quality Figure 5: Electron micrographs of the fibre arrangement in the fleece (left), the single fibre (centre) and in drawings of the fibres cross-sections (right), from an SRS Merino sheep (left) and a Merino sheep with poor wool quality (right).
Profitability of SRS Merino Even without factoring in the better wool prices that might be realized, these plain bodied SRS sheep already lead the Merino industry on profit margin, Quality Figure 6. Glenwood’s large commercial flock of SRS Merino ewes, which has 120% lambs, returns $72 per dry sheep equivalent. This is expected to rise to $86 per dry sheep equivalent within the next four years. Traditionally bred Merino flocks average $ 28 per dry sheep equivalent (Cashburn, 2015). So the question is: why are these sheep not being bred in large numbers across Australia? This issue is addressed in the next article.
Quality Figure 6: Gross margin comparison for current Glenwood flock ewes (centre) and future (right) with performance of traditionally bred Merino flocks (left).
Redesigning Animal & Fibre Genetics • 7
8 • Redesigning Animal & Fibre Genetics
The Skin Story: the elephant in the room • By Dr. Jim Watts
M
ost of the Merino sheep in Australia have thick and wrinkly skins and have been that way since about 1880. There has been no concerted effort to remove this genetic fault, which brings with it the animal welfare concerns of mulesing, stressful shearing and too many lambs dying. It has made the Merino sheep unsuitable for thriving in the environment in which it lives.
Merino sheep types There are two types of Merino sheep in Australia: the classic wrinkly Merino sheep and the plain bodied Merino sheep, Skin Figure 1. The classic wrinkly Merino sheep has been selected for large skin surface area as the means of increasing fleece weight. It
represents about 90 % of the Merino sheep population in Australia, and has been bred that way for over 100 years. It presents major animal welfare concerns. The sheep are mulesed to prevent breech strike but remain highly susceptible to body strike in wet summers. The sheep are difficult to shear, are inefficient feed converters, and appear to suffer from heat stress and dehydration in hot environments. The ewes have at least 20 % fewer lambs and lose more lambs than plain bodied sheep do. It is the elephant in the room. And there is the plain bodied Merino sheep. Among this type, the one bred specifically for high fibre density and length ( to deliver high wool per unit area of skin whilst slightly increasing skin surface area) is known as the SRS Merino. It represents about 10 % of the Merino sheep population of Australia. It has been bred using new technology and breeding methods intro-
duced and established as industry practice in the 1990s. The SRS Merino is a highly profitable animal. The example given in the wool quality article (page 7) showed that it generated a gross margin of $72 per dry sheep equivalent, compared with $28 per dry sheep equivalent for the classic wrinkly Merino. The SRS Merino is naturally resistant to all forms of fly strike. It does not need to be mulesed. It is easy to shear. It has more lambs and rears more lambs, and survives and thrives well in climate extremes. From each fleece approximately 30 % more yarn of 25 % lighter weight, and therefore of far greater textile worth, can be produced.
Breaking the fleece weight myth It is important to break the myth that wrinkly Merino sheep are needed to produce high fleece weights. Plain bodied Merino sheep produce as
Skin Figure 1: The classic wrinkly (left) and plain bodied (right) Merino types, recently shorn. Both sheep produced similar fleece weights (6.0 and 6.2 kilograms respectively) at the same fibre diameter (18 microns).
Redesigning Animal & Fibre Genetics • 9
much wool as wrinkly sheep. This was reported a long time ago (Belschner et al 1937a). The researchers commented that, “contrary to opinions frequently expressed, there was very little difference between the wool production of the two types”. They reported that the wool quality was better on the plain bodied sheep. I first implemented the SRS breeding system, the breeding of plain bodied sheep, in Australian Merino flocks in 1988. The Merino studs, Gowandale and Wallaloo Park in the Wimmera district of Victoria, Australia, were among the first to engage. At Gowandale in 1987, the ewe flock averaged 7.8 kilograms for greasy fleece weight and 23.5 microns for fibre diameter. By 1994 the corresponding values were 9.5kg and 21.3 microns. At Wallaloo Park the five-year averages for ewes from 1983-87 were 7.5kg and 22.2 microns, for 1990-94 were 8.6kg and 21.1 microns and for 1994 alone 9.1kg and 20.7 microns. The change in the fleece structure of the sheep is shown in Skin Figure 2. In 1995, a more detailed comparison of the fleece and skin traits of the two Merino sheep types, the SRS Merino and semi SRS Merino, was made on the ewe hoggets at Wallaloo Park (see Table 1). In this comparison, the SRS Merinos pro-
Skin Figure 2A and Skin Figure 2B: Gowandale Merino ewes, 15 months old, 1994. The new sheep type (right top and above) is growing more wool and finer wool and has a fleece consisting of long and thin staples that are deeply crimped, soft and white. The traditional ewe (left top and above) is growing thick and short staples that lack softness and crimp definition.
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Plain Bodied Merino duced an average of 0.9 kg more clean wool, and were 1.3 microns finer. The SRS
Merinos were denser, longer and had finer primary fibres ( mean 19.2 microns ) than
the semi SRS Merinos (mean 22.5 microns). In the period between 1995 to 2000, I
Trait
SRS Merino
Semi SRS
Clean fleece weight (kgs)
6.6 a
5.7 b
Fibre diameter (microns)
20.4 a
21.7 b
Fibre length ( 8 months wool growth mm)
90.6 a
79.3 b
Follicle density (per mm2)
83.5 a
73.2 b
Table 1. Differences in wool follicle and fibre traits of Merino ewes, 20 months old, visually selected as SRS Merinos and semi SRS Merinos (35 sheep per group). Footnote: means with different superscripts in the same row differ significantly (P < 0.05)
Redesigning Animal & Fibre Genetics • 11
conducted “blind test” demonstrations at 10 workshops across Australia comparing the fleece weights, fibre diameter and fleece values of SRS Merinos and classic wrinkly Merinos in the same flocks. SRS Merinos grossed $67 per fleece compared with $29 per fleece for traditionally select-
ed sheep, producing 10% more wool that was 2.5 microns finer. Examples of these demonstrations are shown in Table 2. Recent data presented by Sheep Genetics Australia, clearly shows that wrinkly Merino sheep do not produce more fleece weight than plain bodied Merino sheep,
Skin Figure 3 .
Wool quality The subjective indicators of loss of wool quality are well known, viz : “hairy birthcoat” lambs, harsh handling wools, loss of crimp definition etc.
Trial
Sheep type
Greasy fleece weight (kgs)
Yield (%)
Fibre diameter (microns)
Bullaring WA 1998 (40 wethers per type)
SRS Merino
9.3
86
19.7
Classic Merino
8.8
85
22.3
SRS Merino
7.2
74
18.7
122
Classic Merino
6.7
72
21.7
118
SRS Merino
6.9
76
17.2
133
Classic Merino
6.9
69
18.7
105
SRS Merino
6.0
74
17.8
125
Classic Merino
5.8
70
20.5
101
SRS Merino
6.3
72
16.9
Classic Merino
5.1
66
19.4
Dubbo NSW 1999 (6 ewes per type)
Cooma NSW 2000 (9 ewes per type)
Cooma NSW 2000 (5 ewes per type)
Badgingarra WA 2000 (6 sheep per type)
Fleece length (mm)
Table 2: Impact of SRS selection on greasy fleece weight, wool yield and fibre diameter in demonstrations across Australia. Source: Brown, 1995.
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Plain Bodied Merino
Skin Figure 3: Fleece weight is similar in plain bodied and wrinkly Merino sheep. There is also a very sensitive measurement called Dp/Ds ratio. It is the ratio of primary fibre diameter (Dp) to secondary fibre diameter (Ds) of the sheep. Wools of low quality have high Dp/Ds ratios eg. 1.2 to 1 or higher. It signifies that the sheep are regressing genetically toward the primitive, two-coated animals (Jackson et al, 1988). Conversely, wools of high quality have low Dp/Ds ratios eg. 0.8 to 1 or less. Selection of Merino sheep for deep seated wool follicles (aka thick skin; Jackson et al, 1988) showed that within 3 generations, the lambs developed “hairy” birthcoats and grew yellowish, harsh handling wools that predisposed the sheep to fleece rot and fly strike.
The primary wool fibres were much coarser in diameter (Dp of 25.7 microns) than the secondary wool fibres (Ds of 20.5 microns). The Dp/Ds ratio averaged 1.25 to 1. Dr. Harold Carter’s survey of unclassed ewe hoggets from leading Merino studs in Australia from 1947 to 1953 showed that Dp/Ds ratios averaged 1.31 to 1, 1.29 to 1 and 1.13 to 1 for strong wool, medium wool and fine wool studs respectively. Watts and Ferguson’s survey from 1988 to 1994, of Merino sires used in 120 studs across Australia revealed Dp/Ds ratios of traditional stud flocks averaged 0.95 to 1, 0.94 to 1 and 0.98 to 1 for strong wool, medium wool and fine wool flocks. The SRS Merino studs being developed at the time, had lower Dp/Ds ratios, averaging 0.86 to 1, 0.92 to 1 and 0.74 to 1 for strong wool, medium wool and fine wool flocks Crooks et al (1997) reported an average Dp/Ds ratio of 1.21 to 1 for 563 unclassed ewe hoggets from 28 Peppin Merino studs in New South Wales. The average standard deviations of fibre diameter was high for both the primary fibres (6.15 microns) and the secondary fibres (5.62 microns). It is clear that medium wool Merino studs had not reduced the Dp/Ds ratios of their stud
ewes to any appreciable extent to that reported by Carter (Dp/Ds ratio averaging 1.29 to 1) 50 years earlier. Sutton et al (1995) reported that in wrinkly Merino sheep the wool grown on wrinkles was 0.7 microns greater, more variable in diameter, shorter and less dense than the wool grown between the wrinkles, that is, wrinkly Merinos produce poor quality wool. At the present time, Dp/Ds ratios of SRS Merino rams and ewes have fallen further than the average 0.84 to 1 reported in 1994, now averaging 0.70 to 1.
Fertility and lamb survival Numerous research trials, dating back as far as the 1950s, have shown that wrinkly Merino sheep have fewer lambs and lose more lambs than plain bodied Merino sheep. Dun (1964) compared the net reproductive rate of Merino sheep for nine joinings (1951 to 1960) of “ single character” selection flocks – Folds Plus (selection for high skin wrinkle score) and Folds Minus (selection for low skin wrinkle score) – at Trangie in central western New South Wales. The net reproductive rate (the number of 19
Redesigning Animal & Fibre Genetics • 13
Plain Bodied Merino month old replacement ewes produced by a ewe in her lifetime) was 1.25 for Fold Plus ewes and 2.3 for Folds Minus ewes. The big difference in fecundity resulted from “the Folds Minus flock having a higher percentage of ewes wet and twins mothered, from it having lower mortality rates of young sheep between birth and mothering, between mothering and weaning, and between weaning and 19 months of age, as well as from it having lower death and casting rates of mature ewes”. Reciprocal matings were carried out in 1961 and 1962 (Dun and Hamilton, 1965). “Folds Minus rams were more fertile than Folds Plus rams as shown by the ewes lambing per insemination (72 % versus 48 %) and by the incidence of twinning per ewe lambing (57 % versus 34 %). Approximately 80 % of the difference in net reproductive rate between the Folds Minus and Folds Plus flocks were explained on the basis of the infertility of Folds Plus rams and excessively heavy birth weights of Folds Plus lambs.” In 14 Merino flocks throughout New South Wales, plain bodied Merino sheep were shown to have at least 15 % more lambs than wrinkly Merino sheep (Drinan and Dun, 1965).
Going forward Fleece weight selection has been based traditionally on skin surface area (the breeding of wrinkly sheep) when it should have been, and now needs to be, based on fleece weight per unit area of skin (breeding for high fibre density and length on plain bodied sheep). Choosing the second breeding option provides us with the opportunity to breed Merino sheep that produce more kilometres of lightweight yarn per fleece, as indicated in Dr. Swan’s mini-processing trial (Chapter 1). It allows us to increase fleece weight in a sensible and considered way, without placing burdens on the animal’s comfort and well-being, and to stop mulesing. It also allows us to produce wool of exceptional quality and textile worth. We simply do not have the right to “overwool” sheep, compromise its fertility and survival and general well-being.
Skin Figure 4: Plain bodied Merino sheep like this Baderloo ewe, are more fertile than wrinkly Merinos.
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Genetic selection for no mulesing and no tail docking • By Dr. Jim Watts
I
n 1937, Drs. Belschner and Seddon published their scientific findings showing that plain bodied Merino sheep, unlike wrinkly Merino sheep, are naturally resistant to fly strike and do not require mulesing. They clearly showed that breeding plain bodied Merino sheep was the solution to fly strike (Belschner and Seddon, 1937). Despite this clear direction for the Merino industry of Australia, the breeding of wrinkly Merino sheep continued to be the mainstream activity with mulesing for breech strike prevention and chemicals for body strike prevention being adopted in nearly all Merino flocks in Australia to the present day. From 1988 to 1994, Dr. Watts developed and applied the SRS breeding system which
allowed plain bodied Merino sheep to be bred that are naturally resistant to all types of fly strike and never have to be mulesed, No Mules Figure 1. The sheep are smooth skinned and plain bodied, are easy to shear,
No Mules, Figure 1: These nine months old Merino ewes, recently shorn, are completely free of body and breech wrinkle. The sheep are resistant to fleece rot and flystrike and are not mulesed.
18 • Redesigning Animal & Fibre Genetics
and produce high fleece weights of fine diameter wool of exceptional quality and processing performance. In 2001, the 40 SRS Merino studs in Australia agreed unanimously to stop mulesing. There was simply no need to continuing doing it. Most SRS Merino studs had ceased mulesing by 2004, and all by 2008. So the Merino rams required to change Merino flocks to a non-mulesing status have been available for a long time in Australia. The transition from a sheep that is wrinkly and requires mulesing to a sheep that is plain bodied and does not need to be mulesed can be less than 5 years, and in some cases as rapid as 3 years. If it is any slower, and it has been suggested that the transition might take 10 to 15 years, it is simply an indication that the right selection methods are not being used. . Plain bodied Merino ewes with no skin
Sheep Welfare
No mules figure 2: SRS genetically short tailed Merino ewes in 10 months wool. wrinkle often develop bare breeches. Bare breech, which extends to no wool on the udder, ensure that neither urine soiling or lambing stain are problems.
Introducing no tail docking Tail docking can be optional rather than standard practice for Merino breeders wanting to differentiate their flocks and wool on easy care and animal welfare grounds. Dr. Jim Watts and the Mudford family
from Parkdale SRS Poll Merino Stud, Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia, (www.parkdalesrs.net.au) have successfully used genetic selection to breed naturally short tail Merinos that do not need tail docking, Having woolly short tails does not present any management issues in Parkdale Merinos as these 18 months old ewes in 10 months wool demonstrate. There are no dags or breech urine stain. This is the first time in the modern era that short tail Merinos have been bred. It demonstrates that
there are more genetic tools available for the Merino industry in Australia to tap into to address perennial issues such as tail docking and mulesing. Breeding for short tails and non-mulesing in a productive Merino sheep demonstrates how stud breeders and scientists thinking outside the square for genetic trait improvement can open up new welfare and management opportunities for the Merino industry. The short tailed ram, Parkdale 270 (No
Redesigning Animal & Fibre Genetics • 19
Sheep Welfare The next cross of these half tail lengths gives progeny with half this tail length again; equivalent to a tail ending slightly below the tip of the vulva in ewes. It is very important that Merino breeders
throughout Australia move quickly and breed sheep that neither require mulesing or tail docking. These are breeding solutions that are easily and seamlessly introduced to Merino sheep flocks.
No mules Figure 3: Parkdale short tailed, Poll Merino sire # 270 mules Figure 3) has a great carcase. One of his sons, PD 1395, is exceptional for wool fibre density (95.7 follicles per square millimetre) and wool fibre length (0.52 millimetre per day) and fineness (16.5 microns). No mules Figure 4 shows one of the short tailed ewes with short tailed twin lambs. The short tailed sheep have excellent muscular control which allows the tail to be elevated clear of the urine stream. The under-surface and sides of the tail are mostly free of wool.
No Mules Figure 4: Ewe and twin lambs, all with naturally short tails.
20 • Redesigning Animal & Fibre Genetics
Mark & Vicki Murphy “KARBULLAH” Goondiwindi QLD 4390 T: 07 4676 1729 M: 0427 761 739 E: karbullah5@bigpond.com Luke Murphy: 0428 187 305 ASBV’s Available www.karbullahpollmerinos.com.au
Redesigning Animal & Fibre Genetics • 21
The SRS Merino studs • Introduction by Dr. Jim Watts I have written short profiles of each of the SRS Merino studs in Australia. The
purpose is to highlight some of the achievements made, especially in terms of genetic improvement. It is a given that all of these stud breed-
ers have ceased mulesing, and as long ago as 2001, and all by 2008. The transition to “no mulesing status” was quick and easy.
Arcadia Merinos Yass, southern tablelands, NSW. Ashley and Katie Penfold 0447 472 102 ashleypenfold@bigpond.com Ram sale: by private treaty. Arcadia Merinos are wonderful looking sheep with remarkable production traits such as 143 % lambing. Ashley and Katie have the right approach, quote: “We aspire to breed Merino sheep that can, and do, perform well under natural environmental conditions. Conditions that are easily replicated by our commercial producers”. Arcadia Merinos are run in the paddock and subject to everyday environmental conditions. That means Arcadia Merinos are not fed high protein diets and are not housed. The sheep are challenged to thrive
Aloeburn Boree Creek, Riverina, NSW. Andrew and Jodie Green 0448 132 035 andrewandjodie@bigpond.com www. aloeburn.com Ram sale: by private treaty Aloeburn produces SRS wool on big
Baderloo Spalding, mid north, SA. Daniel, Mel and Anne Hammat 0439 347 362 daniel@baderloo.com.au www.baderloopollmerinos.com.au Ram sale: by private treaty The key objective has been to produce
Stud Figure 1: Arcadia Merinos are challenged to thrive on their own merits. based on their own merits – not continually subject to husbandry practices that serve only to mask inherent weaknesses. Those that flourish in these conditions are incorporated into our breeding program. Those that don’t, are culled.
We do not mules our Merino sheep. We do not need to. Over the years, we have selected sheep that have bare breeches. We believe that this is the only ethical alternative to mulesing. The wellbeing of our animals remains a priority for us”.
framed sheep with carcase traits that suit the lamb market. The 9 months old Merino wethers, weighing 51.5 kilograms and dressing out at 26 kilograms, sold recently for $139 per head and produced $20 fleeces at 6 months of age. The goal is to reach a weaning percentage of 160 to 180 %, and in order to allow good space to run the breeding ewes, to lot feed the wether lambs for early markets.
Stud Figure 2: Aloeburn one year old ewe with twin lambs at foot, joined at seven months of age.
more and more ewes like the one in Stud Figure 3. An enormous emphasis has been placed on breeding values for early body growth and eye muscle to increase carcase profitability. Baderloo are trait leaders for body weight, fat cover, eye muscle depth, fleece weight and staple length. Lambing percentages are 130 %. The sheep are shorn every 6 months at 65 to 85 mm long.
Stud Figure 3: Baderloo ewe with triplets.
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SRS Stud Directory Barega Evandale, TAS Shelley and Chris Saunders Cocker 03 6391 8838 barega4@bigpond.com www.baregamerino.com.au Ram sale: by private treaty
Blyth Merinos Adelong, south western slopes, NSW. Ron and Cheryl Blyth • 0418 693 302 ronblyth@bigpond.com www.blythmerinos.com.au On property ram sale: 28 September 2016 This fine wool flock consists of 1100 stud
Boxleigh Park Wellington, central western slopes, NSW. Hugh and Mardi Taylor 0488 445 495 boxleighpark@bigpond.com Ram sale: by private treaty The Merino ewes at Boxleigh Park are car-
Calcaling Mukinbudin, central wheatbelt, WA. Athol and Sandie Ventris 0428 487 090 ventris@bigpond.com On property ram sale: 6 September 2016 These are amazing sheep for frame and carcase. Visual selection for the correct
Barega is a superfine wool Merino stud formed by acquiring the stud ewes and sires of two exceptional SRS superfine studs, Gienna (from New England, NSW) and Blythvale (Streatham, Victoria). Barega stud is becoming an important resource of SRS genetics for superfine wool Merino flocks. Both sires and dams have exceptional levels of fibre density and length.
Stud Figure 4: The superfine wool and grown in only four months is bold and deep crimping. This ewe hogget, from Blythvale, has a fibre diameter of 14.2 microns.
ewes and 3000 commercial ewes. The adult ewes produce, on average, 7 kgs of 18.5 micron and wean 130 % lambs each year. The sheep have been bred to be plainbodied with snow white wools and able to resist fleece rot and fly strike. The sheep are able to endure tough times and bounce back quickly, having been bred for high muscle and fat. The breeding values of the young rams average + 1.4 mm for eye muscle depth and + 1.0 mm for fat cover.
Stud Figure 5: Blyth Merino ewes in four months wool. Note the plain bodies and wide, deep bodies.
rying 175 % lambs this year. The rams are plain bodied, open faced and mainly derive from the great Keri Keri Merino stud. Muscle content is exceptional. The 5 months old, unshorn Merino lambs have long, straggly fleeces. The very long fleeces become dishevelled by rubbing against other sheep and objects. Underneath the fleece surface, the wools are highly aligned, deeply crimped, soft and white and already 90 mm long.
Stud Figure 6: Protective birth coats on fast growing, robust Merino lambs.
body and fleece traits is uncompromising. Body structure needs to be perfect. The wool must be silky soft with bold and deep crimp. It has been great to see how quickly and how well the Calcaling sheep have responded genetically to these visual markers. Whilst Athol and Sandie have chosen to keep their ram breeding program simple in its construction, one cannot deny how successful they have been in breeding high performance rams.
Stud Figure 7: Calcaling Poll Merino ram.
with very high levels of fibre density and length. The wools are sensational for quality. High breeding values for early body growth, muscle and fat are important selection aids. The bold crimping nature of the wools belies its fineness, and confirms its excellent length.
DT Kenilworth “Kenilworth”, Campbell Town, TAS. Dave and Jo Taylor, David and Tina Taylor • 0407 517 252 dtkenilworth7@bigpond.com Ram sale: by private treaty An emerging source of medium wool SRS
genetics for Tasmania. The stud has sires
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East Loddon Poll Merinos “Warwillah”, Riverina, Hay, NSW Bill and Diane Hooke; Marcus Hooke 0437 172 754, marcus@eastloddonmerinos.com.au Tom Hooke • 0409 399 191 tom@eastloddonmerinos.com.au www.eastloddonmerinos.com.au Ram sale: by private treaty Fleece averages for the 6,500 ewes over the last three shearings are: fleece weight, 7.3 kg; fibre diameter, 19.4 microns; length 131 mm; and yield, 72.9 %. East Loddon produce long, deep and plain
Glenwood Merinos Wellington, central western slopes, NSW Norm and Pip Smith • 02 6845 3665 norm@glenwoodmerinos.com.au www.glenwoodmerinos.com.au On property ram sale: 14 October 2016 This large flock of 10,000 sheep are shorn every 6 to 8 months at combing length. The owners do not show feed, and sell the rams straight out of the paddock. Mulesing stopped in 2005. The Smith
bodied sheep with open faces. The sheep are always selected to handle tough conditions. When the Hooke family first started measuring muscle and fat, an obvious relationship emerged that the more robust animals had greater muscle and fat depths. That relationship has also been proven by a number of industry researchers. With all sheep now measured for those traits and analysed through MERINOSELECT we are able to select for those traits more accurately and produce a more robust animal that will thrive in the tough conditions.
Stud Figure 8: East Loddon Merino ewes.
family strongly believe that a genetic solution using SRS® Genetics is the only longterm solution to meet consumer demands for products that are natural, ethical and sustainable. As fifth generation woolgrowers, the Smith family are very passionate about the Australian industry and see huge potential for our fibre into the future. They are committed to the promotion of SRS® Merino right across the supply chain for its superior processing qualities and sought after credentials.
Stud Figure 9: SRS Merino wool grown at Glenwood.
millimetres per year, and often run in long pasture suitable only for cattle grazing. The wools are permanently white, and
the sheep are remarkable for carcase traits. The stud ewe flock is highly selected to compliment the high fleece weight sires now being used. We expect to be able to supply good numbers of the productive, plain bodied Poll Merino rams that are naturally resistant to all forms of fly strike, and do not need to be mulesed or jetted. It is an untapped source of special genetics.
fibre diameter. Mulesing ceased in 2004. Many of the sheep now have breeches and udders. Drenching for worms ceased in 1992. The sheep are highly fertile with very low lamb losses. In the last two drought years, lamb losses between pregnancy scanning at day 80 of gestation to weaning at 5 months of age has averaged 14%, with the best ram at less than 4% lamb loss. The dams and their lambs have very calm temperaments. This high level of lamb survival compares to best practice in shedded conditions in the European Union.
Stud Figure 10: Karbullah ewes.
Gundabri Merriwa, central eastern slopes, NSW James and Meredith Munro • 0439 483 050 • munnersinc@bigpond.com Ram sale: by private treaty Gundabri Poll Merino stud is an important high rainfall source of fine wool SRS Merino genetics. The sheep are exposed to 875
Karbullah Poll Merinos Goondiwindi, QLD Mark, Vicki and Luke Murphy 0427 761 739 karbullah5@bigpond.com www.karbullahpollmerinos.com.au On property ram sale: 19 September 2016 The stud flock consists of 1100 ewes. The adult sheep average 19 to 19.5 microns for
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SRS Stud Directory Kelvale Keith, South Eastern South Australia Stephen and Peta Kellock 0427 438 138 emuflat.kelvale@bigpond.com www.kelvalepollmerinos.com.au Ram sale: 18 August 2016 Kelvale sheep are renowned to be some of the largest framed sheep in South Aus-
Keri Keri Moulamein, Riverina, NSW Andrew Dowling and Tarsh Rodda 03 5034 0591 • keri@kerimerino.com.au www.kerimerino.com.au Ram sale: 5 September 2016 The Keri Keri Merino sheep are climate
tralia, consistently achieving over 100% lambing from stud and commercial ewes. Breeding quality wools was a key objective when it was decided to introduce SRS breeding methods. Now we are breeding super soft, bright, high yielding and deep crimping wools. Our objective is to shear twice annually cutting 5 kg of wool with an average staple length of 80 mm each shearing. We are targeting 19 microns for fibre diameter and a wool yield above 70%.
Stud Figure 11: Kelvale ewes.
change Merinos. Always have been. The Dowling family have been doing this for 80 years, breeding the ideal Merino sheep for survival and fitness. Their sheep are absolutely plain bodied, highly fertile and produce SRS wool of exceptional quality. They stopped mulesing as long ago as 2001. The sheep are out there performing as sheep will need to perform in today’s climate.
Stud Figure 12: Keri Keri ram sale.
exceptional wools. This ram breeding flock was set up specifically to provide New England woolgrowers, one of the major areas for growing superfine and fine wool, with a local ram supply that can lift them out of the unprofitable mode of the traditional sheep.
Merced Ben Lomond, Northern Tablelands. NSW Bruce and Kathryn Coppock • 0428 254 345 • bkcoppock@gmail.com Ram sale: by private treaty These SRS fine wool sheep (Poll Merino) have been bred in one of the wettest and
Merryambone North Warren, central western plains, NSW James McLaughlin • 0418 665 649 abigail.jim@bigpond.com.au Ram sale: by private treaty Merryambone North is an emerging stud
Mumblebone Wellington, central western slopes, NSW Chad and Louise Taylor 02 6845 3620 mumblebone@activ8.net.au www.mumblebone.com.au Ram sale: 5 October 2016 The Mumblebone ram 130850, has emerged in the Sire Evaluation Trial, Balmoral, Victoria, as a leader in weaning weight and post weaning weight, fibre diameter coefficient of variation, and the
wormiest areas of Australia for sheep. The sheep have exceptional carcases and
with great promise and breeding capacity. It has been constructed with top sires mainly from the SRS studs Parkdale, Keri Keri, and Richmond. These plain bodied Poll Merino sheep have exceptional frame and bone. Lamb marking percentages are at 130 %. The
wool is very long, soft and stylish. Jim McLaughlin has exercised much skill and planning in developing his stud flock. He has set high standards of quality control for all aspects of the animals he is breeding and selling, and is set to make a major contribution to Merino sheep breeding.
percentage of tops at classing. The ram was also a leader on legs and feet soundness, low body wrinkle and breech cover, and reduced skin wrinkle at marking and post weaning. Twenty-five Merino sires from Victoria, NSW, South Australia and Western Australia, were entered. The Mumblebone ram has breeding values of +4.4kg for weaning weight, +7.2kg for post weaning weight, +9.9kg for yearling weight, -2.6 for yearling fibre diameter coefficient of variation, +4.8 yearling staple strength, -1.9 breech wrinkle, -0.6 breech coverage and -0.3 for dag score.
Stud Figure 13: Mumblebone ram 130850. Inset: The rams wool.
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Nellup Wellington, central western slopes, NSW David and Jill Pullen, Brett and Eve Campbell • 0438 221 156 david.pullen53@gmail.com Ram sale: by private treaty
Operina Barham, Riverina, NSW Tim and Tam Mulholland 03 5034 3535 tmul45@yahoo.com.au Ram sale: by private treaty The owners are clever and innovative breeders. They understand composite genetics, and how to install outlier genes for
Parkdale Poll Merinos Dubbo, central western plains, NSW Don and Pam Mudford and family 0428 876 266 • parkdale@activ8.net.au www.parkdalesrs.net.au Ram sale: 9 September 2016 There are 1,200 stud ewes producing, on average, 7.2 kg of 19.2 micron wool at 72 % yield. The ewes are shorn every 8 months. The sheep are plain-bodied, often barebreeched, and are not mulesed. Parkdale
Ravecchia Orange, central tablelands, NSW Brendon and Merle Ostini 0408419 249 merleostini@bigpond.com Ram sale: by private treaty This fine wool stud flock is undergoing
Richmond Merinos Quandialla, south west slopes, NSW Trevor Ryan • 02 63471166 quandicurry@hotmail.com www.richmondmerinos.com.au Ram Sale: 27 September 2016 Richmond Merino sheep produce wools of sensational quality on plain bodied sheep. The ewe hoggets produce fleece weights of 6 to 7 kg of 17.5 to 18.5 micron wool. The
A replica of two SRS studs, Keri Keri Merino and Australia Meat Merino, but located in the high rainfall region of NSW. It therefore comes as no surprise that the Nellup ewes look like the ewes in Stud Figure 14, absolutely plain-bodied, never mulesed, never jetted, easily shorn and 160% of lambs weaned. These sheep are distinctive and outstanding for all sheep traits.
Stud Figure 14: AMM ewes, typical of the Nellup ewes.
elite traits into their stud sheep. The photo, Stud Figure 15, of the young Poll Merino ewes is a fine example. These are “curve bender” ewes. They have bent the body growth curve in the opposite direction to the traditional Merino. This genetic pattern is important to have to ensure ewe lamb joinings are successful and high yielding carcases are produced.
Stud Figure 15: Operina ewes.
ceased mulesing in 2004. The sires have exceptional length of body, solid bone, high muscle and fat levels. Necks are long and the faces very open. Fertility is rising rapidly with some mobs reaching lambing percentages of 160%. Large numbers of Merino ram lambs (and ewe lambs) with naturally short tails have been bred at Parkdale. The Merino lambs with their wrinkle-free bodies do not need to be mulesed and now do not need to be tail docked. The aim is to push this flock to 200% of lambs weaned.
Stud Figure 16: Parkdale rams.
rapid changes to a fast growing and plain bodied, bare breeched flock of heavy cutting white wools. The sire battery is very impressive. The wools are stunning. The genetic push is based mainly on Well Gully Poll Merino stud from central Queensland. With this infusion has come special outlier genes for permanently white wools, efficient feed conversion of low quality pasture and heat and humidity tolerance.
adult ewes regularly rear 120% lambs. The flock measures well above industry average for breeding values for early body growth, muscle depth and fat cover. All this is achieved with a plain bodied, wrinkle free flock that has not been mulesed or jetted for over 10 years. Richmond sale rams are all paddock run and given every opportunity to express their faults before sale day.
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Stud Figure 17: Ravecchia rams.
Stud Figure 18: Richmond sale rams, reared naturally on pasture.
Trambe Four Mile Creek, central tablelands, NSW Tim and Ruth Christopherson 0407 664 228 • tim@trambe.com.au Ram sale: by private treaty An important fine wool flock for meat and wool. This Poll Merino stud has developed
Well Gully Poll Merinos Mitchell, central western Queensland Errol and Candy Brumpton 07 4623 1170 wellgullymerinos@bigpond.com www.wellgully.com.au Ram sale: by private treaty The wool at Well Gully Poll Merino Stud, Mitchell in central western Queensland, is probably as good as it gets. The wool measures 3.4 kilopascals for resistance to compression, making it measurably softer than cashmere (5 to 6 kilopas-
Wyambeh Roma, central western Queensland. Peter Campbell • 07 4626 5454 peter.campbell53@bigpond.com www.wyambeh.com.au Ram sale: by private treaty Fascinating flock with great genetic potential. Another important example (like Well Gully and Karbullah) of breeding plain-bodied Poll Merino rams in a hostile environment for
Wyndhurst Orroroo, northern South Australia Brenton, Robyn and Jonathan Byerlee 0428 810 088 brenton@soilsms.com.au Ram sale: by private treaty
a much needed genetic resource for fine wool breeders to lift the fertility and carcase value of their sheep. The ewe base combines the early body growth, high eye muscle and good fat cover of the Australian Meat Merino and Parkdale bloodlines with the high density and length fine wool sires at Trambe and from Blyth Merinos.
Forbes, central western plains, NSW Neil Williams • 0404 247 357 yarong@bigpond.com
Stud Figure 19: Ewe base type is similar to these AMM sheep.
cals). Traditional Merino wool, which tests from 8 to 12 kilopascals, is nowhere near as soft as the Well Gully SRS Merino wool. The flock averages are 18.2 microns for fibre diameter and 6 to 8 kilograms for fleece weight. In 1996, Well Gully produced the lightest wool cloth ever used in shirt production; 150 grams per lineal metre. The sheep have adapted genetically to keep their bodies hydrated in the hot and humid environment and to be able to convert hard cellulose pastures to meet their body maintenance needs. The sheep are highly resistant to fly strike, and are not mulesed. The wool stays per-
manently white despite the extremes of wet, heat and humidity the sheep are exposed to.
drought, monsoonal rain and flood, worms, and predators that place high natural selection on the animals for survival and fitness. Merino breeders who understand what these intense forms of both natural and artificial selection deliver would also realise that outlier genes for unique traits (eg. barber’s pole worm resistance, exceptional feed conversion efficiency , body heat regulation) are here, and unlikely to be found anywhere else.
Stud Figure 21: Young Wyambeh sale rams.
Stud Figure 20: This Well Gully wool was grown in a very hot, monsoonally wet and humid year (2010) when 1575 millimetres of rain fell.
of SRS Merino genetics for South Australia. This rapidly progressing Poll Merino stud has combined the Australia Meat Merino, of Keri Keri fame, with the impact wool sires from Well Gully and Blyth Merinos. The carcases and wools are amazing. It was the objective to instill muscle and fat genes with best wool genes as quickly as we could. 135% is the natural lambing.
Stud Figure 22: Wyndhurst rams.
A newly established but important source
Yarong
SRS Stud Directory
rino rams that are paddock run, receive no supplementary feeding and produce high fleece weights of fine diameter wool. Here is an example: 7.5 kg of 18 micron wool for 6 months fleece growth at 2.5 years of age for the ram Green 8.
Ram sale day: 30 September 2016 Neil Williams breeds plain bodied Poll Me-
Neil’s 90 year old father shears the ram Yellow 77.
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Building flock environmental fitness • By Dr. Jim Watts
E
nvironmental fitness is defined as the ability of the animal to thrive and rear healthy progeny in climatic condi-
tions that span from drought to flood. SRS® breeding is focused on improving the number of healthy progeny reared by each dam throughout its lifetime, fitness Figure 1. This is the key driver, along with
improving fibre density and length, of our stud breeding programs.
“Survival of the fittest” One of the key elements of environmen-
Fitness Figure 1: Maximising lamb numbers whilst minimising lamb losses, Photo: Eric Chandler.
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tal fitness, and the survival of the subspecies (or breed), is to have its population similar to near identical in appearance, Fitness Figure 2. It is the same in the wild as it is in domesticated animals. And it needs to be the right appearance. In the case of the Merino sheep, it is a plain-bodied and open faced animal with good body reserves of muscle and fat. The progeny of the plain bodied Poll Merino ram shown in Fitness Figure 3, and the ram itself, fit this description. The progeny recorded the best performance across most traits measured in the wet years of the Longreach sire evaluation trial (2010-2011) and the drought years of the Bollon sire evaluation trial (2012- 2013) in central western Queensland. A wrinkly Merino sheep is the wrong phenotype, and these animals often vary greatly in appearance. It is unable to control its body temperature and hydration as efficiently as the plain-bodied sheep in hot environments. It spends more time walking to water and grazing, and less time resting in the shade.
Lamb survival Merino lamb losses, as foetuses and neonates, can be extraordinarily high, circa 40 %, when joining occurs “out of season”
Fitness Figure 2: Near identical phenotypes of Merino sheep, angora goats, alpacas and in nature. (spring and summer) rather than in the breeding season of autumn (Howe and Watts, 2016a). And most concerningly, 75 % of the Merino sheep matings in Australia are out-of-season. Howe and Watts (2016a) have shown that when both rams and ewes are in a physiological state equivalent to the natural autumn breeding season (treated with Regulin ®, melatonin, Ceva Animal Health),
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Fitness Figure 3: The plain bodied SRS ram, WellGully MT005, after a deluge of rain.
Environmental Fitness single foetuses are 55% less likely to be lost and twin foetuses 60% less likely to be lost. When just the rams, and not the ewes, are so primed, the risk of single foetuses and twin foetuses being lost is reduced by 35 % and 40 % respectively. The hallmark of neonatal survival, long birth coats of the progeny, was greatest when the rams were in peak reproductive physiological states. Howe (1989) and Howe and Watts (2016b) also showed that by artificially inseminating Merino ewes with the semen of Merino rams collected either in the autumn or the spring, 19 % of the ewes inseminated with spring collected semen lost their embryos and foetuses within 68 days of conception whereas only 4 % of the ewes inseminated with autumn collected semen failed to hold their pregnancies.
species) stressed and subsequently DNA damaged occur with out-of-season matings and semen collections (Howe, 1989). Clearly, foetal deaths resulting from semen produced or collected out-of-season (spring and summer) represent a major loss to the sheep industry. At the SRS Merino stud, Karbullah, in the challenging environment of south western Queensland, the lamb loss in the last two drought years has averaged 14%, with the best ram at less than 4% lamb loss, Fitness Figure 4. This is an important achievement, and ongoing. Key factors have been autumn joining, the excellent genetic reserves of
Day length impacts ram fertility Semen quality alters dramatically in small ruminants in response to day length changes. These alterations are linked to seminal plasma protein changes in the male and these, in turn, markedly affect the normality of the spermatozoa. Huge increases in the numbers of spermatozoa that are ROS (reactive oxygen
Fitness Figure 4: Impact of sire on lamb survivability at Karbullah in 2015.
muscle and fat in the parents and progeny, and the calm temperament of the dam and lamb. And there other important factors to be considered such as birthing ease and milk supply of the dam.
Gene expression Howe and Watts (2016b) showed that post-implantation foetal death is 3.5 times less likely in autumn conceptuses giving better lambing percentages, and better phenotypes. Autumn conceived sheep were twice as likely to be free of facial pigment. 29% of autumn conceived sheep had high density and length fleeces compared to 8% of spring conceived sheep in one case study and 34% versus 22% in the second. Autumn conceived ewes were 1.8 times more likely to be classed as studs compared to those conceived in spring and were 80% less likely to be culled. They suggested that the phenotypic differences are epigenetically influenced via semen quality. They also indicated that that this source of production loss is huge and potentially a concern from an animal welfare perspective.
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The Poll Angora goat • By Keith Cowen
I
t is now 10 years since SRS Angora breeders started to redesign the Angora goat. Terry Cummins, SRS Angora breeder from Goulburn, New South Wales, took the photo (Angora Figure 1), two years ago. It shows the great improvement in growth rates of his goats. The goat on the left (born in 2013), weighed 33.4 kilograms (kg) at 417 days of age. The goat on the right (born in 2014) weighed 28.5 kg at 106 days. Both animals are the heaviest for their age group. Adding the polled gene to the mix is just one part of a major overhaul of the breed. Some of our breeders have mated poll does
vigour and growth rates. The fertility and survivability of our Angoras continues to improve. We now have the makings of a truly great dual purpose Angora. The SRS Poll doe 2159, Angora Figure 2, is 10 months old and weighs 42 kg. It shore 3 kg of fine kid fleece (20.6 microns) for 5 months growth - great progress in redesigning the Angora. We have changed the fleece structure of the Angora goat from thick, tightly coiled staples consisting of entangled fibres of highly variable diameters and lengths to long, thin staples of low twist and consisting of highly aligned fibres of uniform diameter and length. We have increased the fibre density of the bucks by 60 %. Primary fibre diameter has been reduced from 42 microns to 26 microns, and secondary fibre diameter from 29 microns to 18.5 microns. Fibre length has increased from 0.74 to 1.10 mm per day. Our breeding program to redesign the
Angora is improving markedly the returns to growers for both meat and mohair.
Fleece production and prices John Smith of Eechungga Mohair sent us Angora Figure 3 to show the exceptionally fine fleeced animals he’s producing using SRS breeding methods. The photo shows four SRS Angora wethers in their fifth fleeces, with fibre diameters of 22.2, 21.4, 23.5 and 19.9 microns, from left to right. This fine micron mohair is in demand in both the Australian and South African auction systems. High end processors will pay premium prices for this rare fibre. Fine kid mohair sells for $25 to $50 per kg in the auction system. Some high end spinners will pay up to $80 per kg. Mohair is not a new fibre. Its qualities are well known by spinners worldwide. It is often blended with wool. Markets for mohair are well established around the world. Demand continues to grow for the Australian fibre.
Angora Figure 1: Growth rates of Angoras have improved. to poll bucks for 5 generations now with outstanding results. Many breeders are mating their doe kids at 7 months of age due to the improved
Angora Figure 3: Fine fleeced Angoras at Eechungga Mohair.
Meat prices Australia is the largest exporter of goat meat in the world and demand is growing both overseas and in Australia. The current price is $5.80 per kg and rising. Last year, when prices were $4.20 per kg, SRS breeder, John Brennan, from Binda, New South Wales, sold Angora wethers to a top of $98.20 on the hook at Wodonga. I sold cull does and wethers, averaging $ 110 per head over the hook at $5.20 per kg in February 2015. Now the meat prices look to better $6 per kg.
Fertility
Angora Figure 2: SRS Poll doe 2159.
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Yarran Park kidding results were for 2015, 135% live kids at weaning under paddock kidding, not intensive. The doe, Angora Figure 4, is Yarran Park
Breeding SRS Angoras 2128, a 13 month old polled doe with a one day old 3.9 kg buck kid. The doe is producing fine mohair at 22.5 microns, and is fast growing, early maturing and polled. Willow Glen is an SRS stud based near West Wyalong in New South Wales. This flock is run intensively on a small block. The Angoras do very well under these conditions producing outstanding fibre that is fine with heavy fleece weights. The kidding results are very good at 160%. Losses are kept to a minimum under this system.
The SRS herds In 2015 our 12 Angora breeders mated 2000 does to polled bucks, in 2016 that number will increase to 3000 does. I estimate we will double that number again in 2017 to about 6000 does to be mated to poll bucks. Our breeders continue to increase their numbers due to better overall returns and less management required. The three Angora studs in the SRS breeding system are: Yarran Park, Weethalle, NSW; Dauson Angoras, Pilton Qld; and Willow Glen Angoras, West Wyalong, NSW. John and Marilyn Smith have a large commercial herd in the Parrakie region of South Australia, Angora Figure 5. The herd
Angora Figure 4: Yarran Park 2128.
fleece tests are very exciting. The average fibre diameter for 840 Angora does, 1 to 8 years of age, is 28 microns and 6 to 7 kg fleece weight per head per year. The kids average 18.5 microns. SRS breeders, Berrick and Tracy Krahnen farm 202 hectare overlooking Lake Jindabyne, in the Snowy mountains of New South Wales, Angora Figure 6. The Angoras have adapted well to the cold winters. They produce some outstanding fine mohair on a mix of native grass and some improved pasture. The photo, Angora Figure 7 was taken on Trish and Richard Wilkinson’s farm, “The Rock House” at Wee Jasper, New South Wales. Their winter mohair clip returned
Angora Figure 5: John and Marilyn Smith have a large commercial herd consisting of 840 does.
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them an average of $22.95 per kg, a great result. Improvement in profitability is just one of the many benefits correct application of SRS breeding methods can have.
The SRS sires The buck in Angora Figure 8 is Dauson Prophet, a large framed animal with an outstanding fleece, and polled. Fleece tested at 19.9 microns as a young animal, the buck now weighs 95kg. It has been an important sire in our redesigning the Angora program. One of his sons, Yarran Park Poll 2141, Angora Figure 9, as a two year old, was 26 microns for fibre diameter, and produced a fourth fleece (6 months fleece) weighing 4.6kg. His next two shearings will total 10kg of mohair well under 30 microns. He will not blowout due to his high follicle density, and his fleece length per 6 months shearing will remain at 140 to 150mm. His body weight of 95 kg makes him an outstanding frame sire. Bucks like 2141 can
Angora Figure 7: “The Rock House”Angoras.
Angora Figure 6: Angoras on Berrick and Tracy Krahnen’s farm.
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Breeding SRS Angoras dramatically increase grower’s returns for both mohair and meat. Producers should be accessing their buck power now for the upcoming breeding season. Selecting the
wrong sire now will affect your returns for many years to come.
Right:Angora Figure 8: The Poll Angora buck, Dauson Prophet.
Angora Figure 9: Yarran Park Poll Angora buck, 2141.
The SRS Group consists of many Australian family-owned Merino, Angora and Alpaca farms that use SRS Genetics, practise sustainable production and support the ethical treatment of animals. All SRS Merino studs ceased mulesing by 2008.
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Genetic improvement in SRS Alpacas • By Dr. Jim Watts
S
RS breeding of alpacas commenced in Australia in 2006. Our attention has been mainly focussed on breeding white and fawn Huacaya alpacas which grow crimping wools almost identical to the wool of the Merino sheep. We have applied the same breeding principles to alpacas as has been used for Merinos. Our objective has been to breed alpacas that are free of guard hair and produce about 6 kilograms (kg) of 17 to 19 micron fleece each year. Guard hairs, Alpaca Figure 1, are coarse and medullated primary fibres produced by the primary follicles of the skin. These fibres indicate that the alpaca is producing a two-coated fleece resembling the primitive type. It is a fibre which spoils the appear-
ance of most alpaca textile products. The genetic pathway to an advanced alpaca fleece, Alpaca Figure 2, requires primary fibres to be non-medullated and finer than the secondary fibres, which also must be fine and uniform in diameter. These are huge genetic changes, requiring the primary fibre diameter to be reduced by more than 15 microns and the density and length of fibres to both be doubled, to secure the fleece production and fleece quality necessary. Advanced alpaca fleeces consist of long, thin staples of bold and deeply crimped wool synonymous with high fibre density and length in Merino sheep.
Genetic improvement From the outset in 2006 in Australia, there were serious skin and fleece problems to fix, Alpaca Figure 3.
Alpaca Figure 2: An advanced Huacaya alpaca fleece.
Alpaca Figure 1: Rugging indicates how much primary fibre (guard hair) is present. A lot (left), very little (right). Source Ian & Harriet Davison.
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The annual fleece weight of an adult alpaca averaged only 3 kg, and the fibre diameter was about 25 microns. This is the same level of low and unsustainable fibre production as a 20 micron adult fleece weighing only 1.9 kg, and a 15 micron adult fleece weighing only 1.0 kg, and so on. When the fleece was skirted, the fleece weight was reduced by 30 to 50 % as there was so much guard hair (coarse primary fibres) present. Fleece length decreased rapidly with age.
Alpaca Figure 3: The alpacas, middle left and near left, are two-coated with “guard hair” showing on the briskets. The surrounding alpacas are more advanced for fleece type.
By 2010, and after five years of selection, the primary fibre diameter of the sires had been reduced from 35 to 29 microns, and the secondary fibre diameter from 24 to 21 microns. Fibre density had increased from 35 to 49 follicles per square mm and fibre length had increased from 0.30 to 0.36 mm per day. By 2016, primary fibre diameter had fallen again from 29 microns to 25 microns, secondary fibre diameter remained at 21 microns whilst fibre density had risen from 49 to 58 follicles per square mm and fibre length from 0.36 to 0.42 mm per day. Advanced alpaca fleeces, as shown in Alpaca Figure 2, and consisting of long, thin staples of bold and deeply crimped wool are now being produced on a regular basis. The animals have changed from having closed (“woolly”) faces to open faces. The body shape has changed from short, boxlike frames to long, deep bodies with angular shoulders and high and wide hindquarters, Alpaca Figure 4.
The studs and commercial herds These are located in Western Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. In Western Australia, there is Suncloud Alpacas at Merredin (Peter and Carolyn Richards) and Goldleaf Alpacas at Albany (Brett
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Alpaca Figure 4: Robust bodies on alpacas of cloned body shape have been part of our breeding objective for the alpaca. Fallon). Murray Ventris is the SRS breeding consultant to these studs, as well as the commercial herds in Western Australia. At Suncloud, a series of impact sires have been bred. The first was Suncloud Talahasi, a solid white Huacaya male, Figure 5, with a density of 45 follicles per square mm and always producing a very long fleece. The primary fibres averaged only 27.2 microns and the secondary fibres, 20.2 microns, The quality of the fleece is simply amazing. Talahasi bred Suncloud Kinetic, a solid
SRS Alpacas white male with a density of 67.5 follicles per square mm and fibre length of 0.44 mm per day. The primary fibres averaged 26.8 microns, and the secondary fibres, 19.4 microns. Kinetic then bred Suncloud Juanchito, a solid white male with the best crimping, silky wool I have ever seen. Juanchito has a density of 55.8 follicles per square mm, fi-
bre length of 0.43 mm per day, primary fibre diameter of 22.1 microns, and secondary fibre diameter of 16.7 microns. In New South Wales, there are three studs: Glenhope at Armidale, Bumble Hill at Orange, Walkley Fields at Kurmond. David and Bronwyn Mitchell at Glenhope Alpacas have seen big improvements in fleece quantity and quality. The uniformity
of the herd is remarkable. Density within the herd has increased noticeably with the majority of animals now having densities above 50 and as high as 67. Overall, saddle fleece weights average 4 to 4.5 kilograms. The Suncloud sire, Talahasi, has had a profound influence in breeding outstanding sires at Glenhope, namely Hugo, Hendrix, Gibraltar, Jester and Jupiter. Glenhope
Alpaca Figure 5: Suncloud Talahasi (left). Its fleece 17.1 microns at 4 years of age (right).
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SRS Alpacas Jupiter is an outstanding prospect, with a density of 66.8 follicles per square mm, a fibre length of 0.48 mm per day, primary fibre diameter of 29.6 microns and secondary fibre diameter of 21.2 microns. Julienne Gelber at Bumble Hill has focused on producing top quality fibre that would appeal to the luxury end of the market and satisfy the technical expectations of the wool processor. At the same time, the alpacas grow highly productive fleeces, Alpaca Figure 6. Julienne explains: “At the start, our stud male, Benleigh Legend, was tested and rated as an advanced fleece male with a wool follicle density of
73 follicles per square mm, fibre length of 0.37 mm per day and fine primary fibres averaging 28.9 microns. Our older stud male, Accoyo America Damocles, although higher micron, also turned out to be no slouch. His density is 65.3 and only 5 microns difference between the means of the secondary and primary fibres. “These males have successfully impacted on our herd . Both have added weight, lustre, length and style to our fleeces. Four sons of these males - Moonraker and Libero (both Legend sons) and Madrigal and Damascus (both Damocles sons) have met the SRS measurement standards. All are
certified and progeny testing is underway. Their skirted saddle fleeces at 2 years of age are impressive: Libero with 2.8 kg at 21 microns and 115 mm; Moonraker with 2.8 kg at 21micron and 110 mm; Damascus with 4kg of 24 microns at 120mm; and Madrigal with 2.1kg of 18.5 micron at 100mm. Richard Brennan at Walkey Fields Alpacas focusses on rapid genetic improvement. He explains: “We are aiming to improve significantly the fleece quality of our 70-strong elite herd with every generation. Today our elite females are shearing between 4 to 5 kgs of 19 to 20 micron fleece at 99% comfort factor. Our latest six month old cria have produced an annualised 3.4 kg of fleece at 15.7 micron with 100% comfort factor. One of the stud’s herdsire, Moonshine, is a white Huacaya male with a mean primary fibre diameter of 27.6 microns, density of 52.8 follicles per square mm and fibre length 0.43 mm per day. The alpaca has consistently produced high fleece weights of fine diameter wool: 4.5 kg of 19.5 micron as a 2 year old; 4.2 kg of 20.7 microns wool as a 3 year old; 4.3 kg of 22.0 microns wool as a 4 year old; and 4.9 kg of 22.7 microns wool as a 5 year old. It has also bred progeny with high fleece weights of high quality wool. Richard adds: “I can’t believe that breeders today would use an outside male without knowing exactly what it is pre-potent for. For this reason we closely monitor the breeding performance of stud males and females.”
Concluding remarks
Alpaca Figure 6: Madrigal at 34 months of age and 10 months fleece growth.
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This is an ongoing group effort to accelerate genetic improvement of the alpaca in Australia. It is all about breeding excellence that is measurable and real.
Alpaca - a next generation luxury fibre www.srsalpaca.com www.facebook.com/srsalpaca Jen & Peter McDavitt, Maffra VIC www.murungle.com.au Greg Crease, Goulburn NSW www.nurrenyen.com.au
SRS a proven scientific breeding technique - every trait measured and reported - microscopic skin testing for density - leads to clear breeding decisions
Improving fibre yields for a decade - fibre length from 0.30 to 0.42 millimetres per day - fibre density from 35 to 55 follicles per square millimetre - coarse fibre reduced by 6 microns
Julienne & Frank Gelber www.bumblehill.com.au David & Jennie Young, Rosa Glen WA rosaglenalpacas@gmail.com Roy & Jennie Menzies, Bathurst, NSW www.tirrikeealpacas.com.au
Peter & Carolyn Richards, Suncloud Alpacas, Me rredin WA suncloud@agn.net.au Jason & Kylie Streatfield, Fiona McKenna, Kyona Alpacas, Forrest Reef, NSW www.kyonaalpacas.com Stuart & Fiona Marshall, Scone NSW www.towarrialpacas.com.au
Phil Newman, Canberra ACT www.rugosapark.com Janice Knutson, Bungendore NSW molonglo@bigpond.com Richard Brennan, Sydney NSW www.walkleyfieldsalpacas.com.au Christine Davy, Bungendore NSW www.wyndarraalpacas.com.au David & Bronwyn Mitchell, Armidale NSW www.glenhopealpacas.com.au
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REFERENCES CITED IN THIS EDITION
Take home messages
• Belschner, H.G., and Seddon, H.R. (1937). The classification according to the susceptibility to breech strike. Scientific Bulletin of the Department of Agriculture of New South Wales, 54: 111-122. • Belschner, H.G. Carter, H.B. and Helen Newton Turner (1937). “Fleece characteristics of stud Merino sheep in relation to the degree of wrinkliness of the skin of the breech”. Aust. Vet. J. pp. 16 -28. • Brown, C. (1995) Why select sheep for soft rolling skin ? BSc (Hons) thesis, The University of New South Wales, November 1995. • Cashburn, G. (October 2015). Sheep enterprises continue to perform. Sheep Developmental Officer, NSW DPI, Wagga Wagga. • Crooks, B.J. and Purvis, I.W.(1997). Wool follicle traits in the NSW Peppin Merino Stud industry: preliminary estimates from a sample survey. Proc. Assoc. Advmt. Anim. Breed. Genet. 12, 158-162. • Drinan, J.P. and Dun, R.B. (1965). Skin folds and Merino breeding. 3. The association between skin fold and the productivity of Merino ewes in fourteen New South Wales flocks. Aust. J. exp. Agric. Anim. Husb. 5 (19), 345-352. • Dun, R.B. (1964). Skin folds and Merino breeding. 1. The net reproductive rates of flocks selected for and against skin fold. Aust. J. Agric. exp. Agric. Anim. Husb. 4:376-385. • Dun, R.B. and Hamilton, B.A. (1965). Skin folds and Merino breeding. 2. The relative influence of the ram and the ewe on fertility and perinatal lamb mortality in flocks selected for and against skin fold. Aust. J. exp. Agric. Anim. Husb. 5 (18), 236 – 242.
Jim Watts with support of his wife Sally, has spent a career unfolding the science and selection principles behind elite animal fibre production.
• Howe P.A., 1989, Ph.D. thesis, The University of Sydney.
• By Dr. Jim Watts
• Howe, P.A. and Watts, J.E. (2016a). Potential breeding outcome losses resulting from conception outside of the natural circannual breeding season – an Australian Merino sheep model. Aust. Vet. J., submitted for publication. • Howe and Watts, (2016b). The consequences of breeding Merino sheep outside of the breeding season. Part 1: Paternal and maternal influence on survival of the foetus and neonate. Aust. Vet. J., submitted for publication. • Jackson, N., Lax, J. and Maddocks, I.G. (1988). Selection criteria for wool growth: significance of primary and secondary fibre types and their diameter distributions. In Australian Wool Corporation Review of CSIRO Division of Animal Production project: Genetic and physiological determinants of wool growth and quality, September 8-9, 1988. • Sutton, J.M., Williams, A.J., Nicol, H.I., and K.J. Thornberry (1995). The influence of skin wrinkle on some attributes of skin and wool. Wool Tech. Sheep Breed., 43 (3), 183 – 195. • Swan, P.G. (1996). The processing significance of various fleece types, unpublished notes.
M
erino sheep, Angora goats and alpacas can be bred with fleeces consisting of fibres that are highly uniform in diameter and length, long, exceptionally soft and elastic and plastic. I call these wools, SRS wools. These wools allow the spinner to produce much more yarn of light weight and high textile value from each fleece. The Merino sheep that produces this type of wool is plain-bodied, easy to shear, never needs to be mulesed or body jetted, and has more lambs and fitter lambs than the traditionally bred Merino sheep with its wrinkly skin. I am proud of the fact that we have bred a plain bodied Merino sheep that is naturally resistant to all forms of fly strike and is not mulesed, and have had this genetic solution in place on 40 Merino studs throughout Australia for over 12 years. I am mystified by the slowness of most
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Australian Merino breeders to move away from breeding the traditional, heavy skinned Merino sheep and the practice of mulesing. SRS animals are easy to breed if people decide to. It is as simple as that. Most Merino breeders choose not to, thinking, quite mistakenly, that the sheep will produce less wool. Demand for SRS Merino sheep might improve if breeders understood the high profits to be made from the wool, meat and surplus sheep sales. My colleagues and I have worked diligently to breed environmentally fit animals. Of major importance has been the scientific discovery by Dr. Peter Howe that lamb losses, both prenatally and postnatally, can be reduced substantially by joining in the breeding season of autumn, or where not, ensuring that the rams are treated pre-joining with melatonin. Breeding values for early body growth, muscle and fat have been highly effective selection aids for improving the well-being of Merino sheep.
The SRSÂŽ Group consists of many Australian family-owned Merino, Angora and Alpaca farms that use SRS Genetics, practice sustainable production and support the ethical treatment of animals. All Merino studs ceased mulesing by 2008.
For more information contact Dr Jim Watts Mob: 0409 364 864 Email: srs@hinet.net.au
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